It's been a dog of a time for the Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are again facing another disappointing season as injuries start to stack up, belted twice before this weekend the Dogs have lost Brad Johnson until week 2 of the finals, Dale Morris' season is over, the Dogs will be missing Higgins as well and Adam Cooney's seas is over. The Akermanis affair is still going strong as he lays boots into his former team.

A season that has promised so much for the Dogs has started to slip away, the Western Bulldogs are a team that has not made an AFL Grand Final since 1961. The Western Bulldogs, who were then known as Footscray lost to Hawthorn by 43 points, the final scores were Hawthorn 13.16.94 defeating Footscray 7.9.51. The next season the Bulldogs would miss the finals finishing 5th, at the time it was a top 4 in the AFL, the Dogs would again miss the finals between 1963, until 1974 where they would lose an Elimination Final to Collingwood by 69 points.

Heartbreak in their next final in 1976 saw the Dogs lose to Geelong by 7 points, a few years went by before the Dogs would return to the finals, the Dogs would make the 1985 Preliminary Final, a place they have been many times in the moden game, and it saw them go down to Hawthorn the same side they had lost to in the Qualifying Final by 93 points, this time it was a 10 point loss. A Geelong side of 1992 added more Preliminary Final heartbreak to the Dogs smashing them by 64 points.

Melbourne, another team that hasn't won a flag in a long time smashed a Footscray line up in 1994 by 79 points the Dogs went out in straight sets that season beaten by a heartbreaking 5 points by Geelong in the Qualifiying Final, the Cats knocked the Dogs out of the finals in the same final the next year this time by 82 points.

1997 saw Adelaide sneak home with a 2 point win, in the Prelininary Final, and again in the Preliminary Final in 1998 this time by 68 points. A loss to the Bribane Lions in the Semi Final of 1999 by 53 points ended a 3 year finals run, an achievement that the Dogs had not had in a very long time.

The Lions, like the Cats before them knocked the Dogs out of the 2000 finals series this time an Elimination Final by 34 points. The Dogs would miss all finals series' until 2006 where they were again knocked out of the finals in the Semi Final by the evenutal premiers West Coast, they lost by 74 points.

The Cats of 2008, knocked the Dogs out of the finals at the Preliminary Final stage by 29 points, the Cats went on to lose the flag that season. In 2009 it was the same old story come finals, St. Kilda would knock the Dogs out of the finals at Preliminary Final time by 7 points, and the Saints would lose the Grand Final.

TThe Western Bulldogs fans can cling onto one stat, the last two times they had lost a Preliminary Final the team that beat them had lost the Grand Final. While it is the Dogs now, and it is easy to write them off, the Dogs have found themselves unlucky with the loss of key players, illness, and just some poor form.

This season again it looks like the Dogs y do not seem likely to capture that flag that has been alluding them since the days of Teddy Whitten.

The Western Bulldogs' premiership window is slowly closing, they have some players under the age of 30, but it seems that if they do not capture it in the next 5 years they may have to wait again. But are the Dogs still a threat? It doesn't look like it, does it? The Dogs fought the Crows to the bitter end in the wet over in Adelaide and then were belted by 101 points by Geelong, 44 points last week by the Swans.

This week the Dogs have a team that is worse off then they are, in Essendon, should the Bombers win this game, the Dogs could be in all sorts of trouble when they meet minor Premiers Collingwood in the first weekend of the 2010 finals.

The Dogs are a real chance of going out in straight sets if injuries and poor form persist, people have made the comparison to the Collingwood side of 1990 when Hawthorn belted them in Round 20 by 83 points, and came back and won the flag, but Collingwood went on to belt Fitzroy in Round 21 by 86 points, and North Melbourne in Round 22 by 89 points.

The Collingwood side also were not missing key players, there was doubt over Darren Millane who had broken his thumb, and Alan Richardson missed with a shoulder injury. But the Dogs are still alive though, but the Dogs are going to need a massive form reversal to beat Collingwood next week.

Watching the game against the Crows, the Pies were playing a bit too cute, and could have been mistaken for a team that weren't top of the table, but their kicking was another issue and managed to sneak home for another ugly win, which sealed the Minor Premiership up.

The Pies did enough to win, but didn't look coinvincing they have the Hawks missing Hodge and Mitchell, the Pies lost Brown, and will have Fraser celebrate game 200 this weekend. The first week of the finals will be an interesting one, but it would be a terrible run into the finals if the Dogs lose to the Bombers you'd be a worried if you supported the Dogs.